Skimmers

There is something truly remarkable about a skimmer - its bill and method of fishing. The distinctive bill has a narrow lower mandible that extends well beyond the tip of the upper. Skimmers scythe through estuaries, lakes and rivers, submerging this lower mandible into the water during flight and snapping shut on any fish that are not quick enough to get away.

The three species of skimmer are widely separated but so closely related that they have been considered one species. North and South America have the black, south Asia has the Indian and there is the African skimmer. In the same group of shorebirds as terns, gulls and auks, these social birds gather in large flocks and nest in colonies.

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